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That Masked Man (LORE)
Secret origins of That Masked Man! (Restricted access to personnel with security clearance Umbra) File number: 10122 Real name: Horton Filbert Clarke Date of Birth: April 1, 1921, Chicago Marital status: Single Race: White Family: Father (Vern), Mother (Alice) Occupation: Comic book store clerk Political affiliation: unknown Nationality: American Education: High School diploma Appearance: 5'5, black hair, scraggly mustache, fat, very near-sighted (which is why he was rejected from joining the army) Distinguishing marks: perpetual squint, scar on left lower leg, missing one toe right foot (childhood accident) Criminal record: Juvenile case of shop lifting at age 8 Social Security number: (See attached personal identification documents) Security clearance: none Background: Mr. Clarke lived over the comic book shop where he worked and spent all his spare time. He is obsessed with comic books, reading almost everything he can get his hands on. His parents have indulged this obsessed to a remarkable degree, and both are unsurprised by their son's new powers, claiming to have expected it because of his strong interest in that area. On his birthday, Mr. Clarke fell asleep over a comic book (The New Adventures of Captain Bluesky, issue #12) while working in the shop. His employer, Bruce Sturgeon, arrived with cake and food to surprise him, but finding him asleep, took up a ski mask and pretended to be a robber. Much to both their astonishment, Mr. Clarke used his new talent to smash the front counter of the store and wrap Mr. Sturgeon in Captain Bluesky's trademark blue ribbons. They experimented with the powers over the next few days and realized that his powers were an exact match with those in the comic book, including his weakness to cheese. Being patriotic men, they contacted the talent reporting agency, but the agents sent to test him found no sign of any talent whatsoever. A few days later, disappointed, Mr. Clarke returned to the comic book store and read episode 3 of "A Little Ghost Music" which features the powers of "The Little Ghost" who can move through matter at will. Mr. Clarke immediately manifested that talent and found himself in the store basement (apparently to the surprise of Mr. Sturgeon who didn't realize they had one). Again, the pair experimented with the powers and contacted the talent agency. This time they were reported as a probable nuisance/faker. They settled on contacting a reporter (Amy Jones) and had her report the talent, along with photographic evidence. This drew the attention of Agent Price and his team who were sent to recruit Mr. Clarke. Abilities: Mr. Clarke has the ability to manifest talents read about in comic books for approximately one week. Unfortunately, it appears that the superhero must be completely new to him; anything he has encountered before will not result in superpowers (see attached list for superheroes that he is familiar with, pages 1-27). There appears to be some other limitation, perhaps qualified as superheroes having a "neat-o" quality that interests Mr. Clarke, but we have not been able to predict it. At this point, we are keeping more powerful comic books away from him and have recruited a few of his favorite artists (see attached list) to help the war effort by creating new talents that he might manifest. Although Mr. Clarke is unhappy about being unable to read comic books except under certain controlled conditions, he has acquiesed when it was put to him that it was a sacrifice for the good of the nation, and perhaps, the entire world. Psychological profile: Mr. Clarke is a very idealistic young man, and seems to refer to events in comic books as if they were real. Although intelligent, he has never been a particularly conscientous student. He is patriotic, not particularly well-informed, but should be fairly easy to control and educate, especially if he is convinced that the good of the nation is at stake. Current assignment: He has entered army training, and seems to be settling in fairly well, although his officers do not consider him to be a promising recruit. There is some attempt to expand his talent towards other fictional characters, but it has been unsuccessful so far. Status updates: (See attached documents)